HM 144

1. ff. 1-9v: [William Lichfield] Here begynnyth the Compleynte betwene God and Man, O My graciouse god prynce of pite/ Off whom all grace and goodnesse begann…And after this lyf bryng you and me/ In to euerlastynge Ioy Amen. Explicit. [f. 10r-v, blank]
IMEV 2714. E. Borgström, “The Complaint of God to Sinful Man and the Answer of Man, by William Lichfield,” Anglia 34 (1911) 498-525, here in the order of Borgström’s stanzas 1-24, 33-40, 25-32, 49, X, 50, 60, 65, 54, 55, X, 41-48, 51-52, X, 53, 66, 56-59,
61-64, 67-68, X. Of the 4 inserted stanzas (indicated by X), the first 3 are printed with some variation by F. J. Furnivall, ed., Political, Religious and Love Poems. EETS os 15 (London 1866) p. 197 lines 457-64, p. 199 lines 505-12 and p. 191 lines 337-44; the last stanza in HM 144 not identified in print: “And nowe my frendes in euery cooste/ And all ye that now present be/
The graciouse goodnesse of the holy goste/ Kepe you in stedfast charite/ And that euery man in his degre/ May serve god and
forsake synne/ And after this lyf bryng you and me/ In to euerlastynge Ioy Amen.” Marginal notes by John Stow following the incipit on f. 1, “made by william lichefield doctar of divinitie, parson of all hallows in Thamis strete, who
deceased 1447,” and following the explicit on f. 9v, “here endithe the complaynte of god to man, and was made by master william
lichefield doctar of divinitie, and was parson of alhallows the more in thamis strete in london, he died in anno 1447 the
14 of octobar and made in his tyme 3083 sermons as apered by his owne hand writinge and were found when he was deade.”2. ff. 11-20: [John Lydgate] How Merci & Pees Ryghtwisnes & Trouthe disputyd for the Redempciun of Mankynde, Who is bounde & feteryd in presonne/ Thynkyth longe aftyr delyueraunce…She alle commyttyth vnto goddis wylle/ And as he ordeyneth redy to fulfylle. [f. 20v, blank]
IMEV 2574. J. A. Lauritis et al., eds., A Critical Edition of John Lydgate’s Life of Our Lady. Duquesne Studies Phiological Series 2 (Pittsburgh 1961), this manuscript described on pp. 42-43, and collated as Hn2. HM 144 is an excerpt containing Book 2 lines 1-504; on f. 16,
conflation of lines 300-302 due to eyeskip; on f. 17, insertion of lines 615-620 between 347-348; on f. 17v, conflation of
lines 369-370.3. ff. 21-43: Here begynneth the Stori of the blyssyd Passion of Crist Ihesu And the grete soruis of his blissid modyr Marie, Owre swete lady Seint Mary goddis modyr of heuene aftyr þe vpstyeng of her swete sonne Crist Ihesu vppon þe Mounte of Synay…Now rest thou here lady þe modyr of my lorde god vppon hope of thi blissyd sonnys arysyng. [ff. 43v-44v, blank; f. 45:] Than aftir that Jesus was closyd in his Sepulcre ye shul here the stori of Joseph of Aramathye and Nichodemus, On þe morwe aftyr þat Crist Iesus was buryed The princis & þe Bishoppis þe Prestes and þe Maistyrs of þe lawe come to Pilate
& sayde…But þe Ioye of his blessyd Resurrexiun passyd all þe Ioyes þat I hadde from þe tyme þat I was born vnto þat tyme.
Relation of the Passion, as narrated by the Virgin; text essentially identical to that of Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys 2498, p. 449a but revised and with intercalations from the text printed by C. Horstmann, “Nachtrage zu den Legenden,” Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen 79 (1887) 454-59.4. ff. 47-54v: Now of the Resurrexion of Crist Ihesu I purpos sumwhat to telle, The good man & þe noble prynce þat pryuely was Cristis disciple for drede of þe wickyd Iewis I shal telle yow of a lytyl boke
þat he made of Cristis passioun…þat we may haue grace to haue stedfast feyth & beleve in hym. Amen.
The Gospel of Nicodemus, here in the English P group version. See J. F. Drennan, “A Short Middle English Prose Translation of the Gospel of Nicodemus,” unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan 1980, and, by the same author, “The Complaint of Our Lady and Gospel of Nicodemus of MS Pepys 2498,” Manuscripta 24 (1980) 164-70.5. ff. 54v-56: The begynnyge and endyng of Pilatys lyfe that Iuged Crist Ihesus to dethe here folwyth, Off the byrthe of Pilate and of his lyuynge men redyth many wondrys For a kynge of Tyrus gate a sonne on one callyd Pila a
mylwardes doughter þat hete Atus…& is desolate & in wylde place and is yet herde there ful grysyly noyse of speritys.
Excerpts from John Trevisa’s translation of Higden’s Polychronicon; see C. Babington and J. R. Lumby, eds., Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden Monachi Cestrensis. RS 41 in 9 volumes (London 1865-86) 4:319-25, 365-67. This and the following articles 6-10 share variant readings with Caxton’s edition of the Polychronicon ([Westminster] 1482; Duff 172; STC 13438) and may have been copied from it.6. ff. 56v-57: Here begynnyth the Genealogi and the lynage of oure blissyd lady seynt Marie, Here take hede as saynt Ierom saith þat Anna and Emerea were twey sustres…That yere bytwene the Assencion þat is holy thursdaye & whitsondaye Mathias was chosen and made Apostel instede of Iudas the
traytoure.
Higden, 4:247-49, 347-51.7. ff. 57-58: The lyfe and byrthe of Iudas scaryot tha betrayed Crist Iesus, Off hem it is wreton in a Stori though the Auctor therof be vnknowen. A man was in Ierusalem þat heete Ruben as Ierom saith…Iudas folowed Crist Iesus þat his trespas myght ben forgeuyn hym & Iudas was Cristis disciple.
Higden, 4:351-57.8. ff. 58-59v: How the Apostelis made the Crede in Ierusalem, the lyfe & martyrdom of them, The yere after þe election of Mathias & aftyr the descendyng of þe holy goste…Lazarus þe first bisshop of Cypris deyde in his secounde dethe & had xxiiii yere betwene his two dethis.
Higden, 4:357-61, 403-07, 411-13, 409, 389.9. ff. 59v-61v: A declaracion of the Epiphany and whan Crist began his fast & yede into wyldernes & whan Iohan baptist was behedyd, Also þat yere Iohan began to preche & baptise and baptised Crist þe vi day of Ianeuere…aloo I þat was callyd god now I am ryghtfully boundyn with bondys of dethe & so he dyed.
Higden, 4:333-45, 5:9-11, 4:281, 381.10. ff. 61v-64: Here begynnyth the seege & destruxciun of Ierusalem & of the Iewis aftyr the passion of Crist Iesus, Whanne Crist Iesus was born was shewyd many prophesies & tokenys of grace & gladnes…he þat wolle seke þe lyfe of Seint Vrban þere he shal rede þe hole seege & how þe holy bloode of haylis com into Englond. [ff. 64v-66v, blank]
Higden, 4:279, 451-55, 425-31, 437-43.11. ff. 67-80v: Here begynnyth the Pilgrymage and the wayes of Ierusalem, God þat made bothe heuen & helle/ To the lorde I make my mone…And there she kneled vppon a stone/ And made Magnificat anone. [ff. 77v-79, 90 verses, inserted:] Magnificat anima mea dominum, Miche laude & perce my soule magnifieth/ The eternalle lorde bothe one two & thre…he hathe made mercy oure kynde to restore/ Of alle his werkys to be souerayne. Amen. [Stations of Jerusalem, cont.:] And whan Elizabeth with here eyn graye/ had sayne þe wysdom of maye…And at oure dethe to haue thi mercy & thi grace/ That we in heuyn may haue a place/ Amen for charite I pray Crist Ihesu haue
mercy on me.
IMEV 986. C. Horstmann, ed., Altenglische Legenden (Heilbronn 1881) 355-66, here lacking 48 verses of the printed text and with certain stanzas, particularly in the later part, shifted out of sequence.
Inserted within the text of the Stations of Jerusalem, between vv. 724-725 on ff. 77v-79, are the 80 verses of the Magnificat of Lydgate’s Life of Our Lady, Book 2, vv. 981-1060 (IMEV 2574; Lauritis edition, pp. 380-85) and 10 Latin verses of the biblical Magnificat.12. ff. 81-99: [Geoffrey Chaucer, Tale of Melibeus] A ȝoung man callyd Melibeus myghty & ryche bigat vpon his wyf þat callyd was Prudens a doughter whiche þat callyd was Sophie…This is theffecte & ende þat god of his endeles mercy wol at þe oure of oure dethe foryeue us oure offencis þat we haue trespassid
ayenst hym. Amen. They that this present & forseyde tale haue or shal Reede Remembyr the noble prouerbis that rebukyth Couetise and Vengeaunse
takyng in truste of Fortune whiche hathe causyd many a noble Prince to falle as we may rede of them here folluyng. [f. 99v, blank]
J. M. Manly and E. Rickert, eds., The Text of the Canterbury Tales (Chicago 1940) 1:289-94 for a description of HM 144, 4:152-214 for the text, 7:206 for variants also from this manuscript. Note, s. XVI (probably not by John Stow), on f. 81, “Chawsers talle of melebe”; running headlines, “Prouerbis.”13. ff. 100-111v: [Geoffrey Chaucer, The Monk’s Tale] I wil biwaile in maner of tregede/ The harme of hem þat stod in heigh degre…For when men trustith her than wyl she fayle/ And couer her bright face with a cloude. [ff. 112-113v, blank]
IMEV 4019, group B. Manly and Rickert, 4:211-50 for the text; 7:473 for variants also from this manuscript. Running headline, “The Falle of Princis.”14. f. 114r-v: Hic Incipit Parvus Catho. Cum animadverterem quam plurimos homines graviter errare, Whan I aduerte to my remembraunce/ And see how fele folks erren greuously…Whanne ye it rede let not your hert be thense/ But doth as this saith with all your hole entente. Hic Finis Parvi Cathonis.IMEV 3955. F. Kuriyagawa, ed., Parvus Cato, Magnus Cato Translated by Benet Burgh, edited from William Caxton’s first edition (ca. 1477). Seijo English Monographs 13 (Tokyo 1974) 3-5, collating HM 144 as “the sister manuscript to Caxton’s text” (Duff 76; NSTC 4850); HM 144 may instead have been copied from the Caxton edition.15. ff. 114v-135v: Hic Incipit magnus Catho. Si deus est animus nobis ut carmina dicunt/ Hic tibi precipue sit pura mente colendus, For thy that god is inwardly the wyt/ Of man and geuyth hym vndirstandyng…Here haue I fonde that shal you guyde & lede/ Streight to goode fame & leue you in her house. Explicit Catho.IMEV 854. Kuriyagawa, 6-61.16. ff. 135v-141: [John Lydgate] Here begynnyth the Tale of the Chorle and the Byrde, Problemys of olde likenesses and figures/ Whiche prouyd been fructuose of sentence…All thyng is sayde vnder correccioun/ With supportacion of your benynghnyte. Lenvoy Explicit Lydgate.IMEV 2784. H. N. MacCracken, ed., The Minor Poems of John Lydgate. EETS os 192 pt. 2 (London 1934) 468-85. See C. Bühler, “A Note on Stanza 24 of Lydgate’s The Churl and The Bird,” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 40 (1941) 562-63, proposing a corrected order of the verses in stanza 24, according to the arrangement in Caxton’s first edition (revised order: Duff 257; NSTC 17009) in HM 144, and in 2 other manuscripts.17. ff. 141v-145: [John Lydgate] Off this notable ryalle hye scripture/ The blessid doctour Augustyn as I rede…Alle in one vessell to speke in wordes pleyn/ That no man shulde of other haue disdayn. Thus endeth the Hors the Goos & þe Sheep.IMEV 658. MacCracken, pt. 2, pp. 551-62; here stanzas 43-77 only. See C. Bühler, “Lydgate’s Horse, Sheep and Goose and Huntington MS HM 144,” MLN 55 (1940) 563-69, arguing that HM 144 was copied from Caxton’s first edition (revised order: Duff 262; NSTC 17019).18. f. 145r-v: Hit is ful harde to knowe ony estate/ Double visage loketh oute of euery hood…Hurte not thy self lest thou sore rewe/ For thyn owne ese keepe thy tonge in mewe.
IMEV 1629. 5 stanzas peculiar to Caxton’s and de Worde’s editions and to HM 144 (the only known manuscript), printed from this manuscript by F. J. Furnivall, “Chaucer and Lydgate Fragments,” Notes and Queries ser. 5 vol. 9 (1878) 342-43 and by Bühler, MLN, 566-67.19. f. 145v: [straight on after art. 18] The worlde so wyde the ayre so remeuable/ The sely man so lytel of stature…That made is of these foure thus flyttyng/ Maye endure stable and perseuere in abydyng.
IMEV 3504. Stanza 23 (7-line version) of John Lydgate’s A Pageant of Knowledge, printed in its entirety by MacCracken, pt. 2, pp. 724-34; this stanza printed from HM 144 by Furnivall p. 343 and by Bühler p. 567.20. f. 145v: [straight on after art. 19] The further I goo the more behynde/ The more behynde the ner my weyes ende…Though I goo loose I am teyde with a lyne/ Is hit fortune or Infortune thus I fyne. Explicit.
IMEV 3437. The first stanza of John Lydgate’s Tyed with a Lyne, printed in its entirety by MacCracken, pt. 2, pp. 832-34; this stanza printed from HM 144 by Furnivall p. 343 and by Bühler p. 567. In 5 of the 6 surviving copies of art. 19, it is succeeded by this article, and is known as “Halsham’s Ballad.”21. f. 145v: [added by a different hand; not in Caxton’s or de Worde’s editions] Wo worthe debate þat neuer may haue pease/ Wo worthe penaunce þat askith no pyte…Wo worthe þat Iuge þat may no gilt saue/ Wo worthe þat right may no fauor haue. [f. 146r-v, blank; f. 147, as if an explicit:] prayour & good lyuynge may withdrawe alle bad predestinacion & bothe Man and Woman may stonde in the state of grace. Amen.
IMEV 4215. Stanza 67 of John Lydgate’s Court of Sapience, printed in its entirety by R. Spindler, The Court of Sapience (Leipzig 1927) 124-213, and stanza 99 of George Ashby’s Active Policy of a Prince, printed in its entirety by M. Bateson, ed., George Ashby’s Poems. EETS es 76 (London 1899) 13-41; this stanza printed from HM 144 by Furnivall p. 343 and by Bühler p. 567.22. ff. 147v-148v: Marche The Sonne arisith iii quartirs of an houre before vii & goth to rest iii quartirs of an houre aftyr v the iiiithe day of Marche vppon E…The Sonne arisith half an houre bifore vii and goith to rest half an oure aftyr v þe xxiiii day of Februare vppon F.
T. Wright and J. O. Halliwell, eds., Reliquiae Antiquae (London 1845) 1:318-20 for a similar text on the times of sunrise and sunset, here arranged for the year according to the Incarnation, March to
February.23. f. 149: Beda libro primo Seith þat this ylond lyeth vnder þe northe hede of þe worlde…& þerfor is callyd anoþer worlde because it is oute of þe cyrquyte of þe erthe. [ff. 149v-151, blank]
Excerpt from Trevisa’s translation of Higden’s Polychronicon, 2:9-11.24. f. 151v: [added in a secretary script, s. XVI] Thys ys þe medysyn þat þe kynges grace vsythe every day for the raynyng seknys…By þe grase of god ther schall be no perell of no dethe. [f. 152r-v, blank]
Medical recipe against the plague printed by Furnivall p. 343 from this manuscript.Paper, at least 9 watermarks: n. 1, Licorne somewhat similar to Briquet 10032, Châtenois 1494; n. 2, Lettre P similar to Briquet 8625, Douai 1486; n. 3, Ciseaux similar to Briquet 3728, Genoa 1481; n. 4, Main similar to Briquet 11409, Maëstricht 1486; n. 5, Main a slightly different form of Briquet 11409 (as above); n. 6, Main somewhat similar to Briquet 11138, Sion 1500; n. 7, Etoile similar to Briquet 6112, Gondrecourt 1484; n. 8, Main somewhat similar to Briquet 11180, Palermo 1478; n. 9, Main similar to Briquet 11164, Genoa 1493/95. The distribution of the watermarks, although not regular, exhibits a rough pattern: n. 1 in the preliminary flyleaves; n.
2 exclusively in quires 1 (Lichfield) and 10 (part of Cato); nn. 3-5 sparsim in quires 2-7 (“religious” texts on passion, resurrection and Jerusalem) where the paper is folded in quarto and the edges
remain untrimmed; one bifolium in quire 2, ff. 13 and 20, is folded as a folio and has watermark n. 6; nn. 7-9 occur in the
second half of the book, quires 8-13 (“secular” texts: Chaucer, most of Cato, Lydgate, etc.), in folio, with edges trimmed. ff. iv + 152; 290 × 200 (185-197 × 130-146) mm. 110(art. 1) 212(-11, 12; art. 2) 316 48(through f. 44) 516 66(through f. 66) 714(art. 11) 816 918(-4 after f. 99; through f. 113) 1010 1112 1212(-10 after f. 144 without loss of text) 1310(-5, 7, 8, 10).
Quire and leaf signatures: quire 1, none; quire 2, in roman numerals; quires 3-5 in a not infrequent system of roman numerals
only for the first quire, and letters “a” and “b” combined with numerals for the following 2 quires; quires 6-7, numerals
only; second half of the book, quires 8-12 in the afore-mentioned system of numerals only, then letter [a]-d combined with
numerals; quire 13, none. Catchwords in the center lower margins of ff. 36v, 96v, 123v. 28 or 32 lines of verse (4 stanzas), 32-35 lines of prose, frame ruled in dry point. Written in a large, clumsy hybrida script, by the same person who copied Oxford, Trinity College MS 29; Latin passages in a more formal script.
Plain 3- to 1-line red initials; spaces reserved on ff. 120v, 125v, 129 (Books 2-4 of Magnus Cato); paragraph marks, deletions and underlining in red. Running headlines in ink of the text across the opening.
Recently (?) refoliated; some older printed sources referring to HM 144 now off by 1 after f. 101.
Bound, s. XVI, ledger-style, sewn with twisted strips of parchment through each quire and through the limp parchment cover, and knotted
on to heavy stamped leather on the outside of the spine; long extensions of front and back covers serve as fore edge flaps.
Parchment reinforcing strips around the outside and in the center of many quires, most cut from a text of liturgical directions
( England, s. XIV) with accounts copied upside down on the back of it (s. XV): on the strip between ff. 118-119, an account entry “Item caro de busth. vi d.”; on the strip between ff. 16-17 (cut from
a different manuscript?), a memoria for a priest saying mass with several names and dates, including one in a fuller form
implying that that person was of a different religious house, “frater Iohannes monachus sacerdos et professus monasterii sancti Cuthberti ordinis sancti benedicti” (in Durham?); on the strip between ff. 63-64 (cut from yet another manuscript?), a list of monks professed “monasterii sancte trinitatis
de Bustlesham Montagu ordinis sancti [sic, “Augustini” omitted?] Sar. diocesis” referring to Bisham Montague in Berkshire (cf. also the strip between ff. 118-119); on the strip between ff. 73-74 (cut from the same manuscript as that between ff.
63-64?), “them that theder wyll com than com we to a nother p[1 suprascript?]ase.”Written in England at the turn of the fifteenth century.
The excised and the blank leaves dividing texts, and the correspondence between quire structure and texts suggest that the
book may have been produced in as many as 8 fascicles: 1, corresponding to quire 1 and art. 1 (Lichfield); 2, corresponding to quire 2 and art. 2 (Lydgate); 3, corresponding to quires 3-4 and art. 3 up to the story of Joseph of Arimathea; 4, corresponding to quires 4-6 and arts.
3-10 (the resurrection and the Polychronicon excerpts); 5, corresponding to quire 7 and art. 11 (Stations of Jerusalem); 6, corresponding to quires 8-9 and arts. 12-13 (Chaucer; note that Manly and Rickert’s suggestion that the Monk’s Tale was copied before Melibeus is not supported by physical evidence:
conjunct to the excised leaf in position 4 is not a posited leaf 17 but the actual f. 110, containing part of the Monk’s Tale;
f. 99 with the end of Melibeus and f. 111 with the end of the Monk’s Tale are also conjunct); 7, corresponding to quires 10-11
and arts. 14-15 (Cato); 8, corresponding to quire 12 and arts. 16-21 (Lydgate). Watermarks and signatures may indicate a simpler 2- or 3-part division: 1, corresponding to Lichfield; 2, corresponding
to the “religious” material in quires 2-7; 3, corresponding to the “secular” material in the rest of the book. The scribe appears to have used Caxton editions as sources for many of his texts: Lydgate’s Horse, Sheep and Goose (art. 17) as shown by C. Bühler, and possibly Lydgate’s Churl and the Bird (art. 16); the 5 stanzas on f. 145r-v (art. 18) otherwise known only in the early printed editions, while the stanza added
in a different hand on f. 145v (art. 21) is not in the early printed editions; the excerpts from Higden’s Polychronicon (arts. 5-10) agree with the variant readings in Caxton’s edition, and the Parvus and Magnus Cato (arts. 14-15) have been accepted as bearing a close relationship with Caxton’s edition (“sister” or rather daughter?). The
copyist followed the same system in Oxford, Trinity College, MS 29, when he again used Caxton’s edition of the Polychronicon as the source for his excerpts of history.1 An early, possibly the first owner (the copyist himself?) had access to a manuscript which had belonged to the Augustinian monastery in Bisham Montague, Berkshire, and which was used for reinforcement in the binding. Other sixteenth century owners wrote their names in the book: f. ii,
among many pentrials, “John thyll [second word erased]. John tylly owth for ii bowsylles of wy[cropped] the pres xxiiii d.”;
“Iste confessor domyni. Iste lyber pertenethe nicolaus serll”; on the inside of the front and back covers, “John Skynner” and “John Skynner of farnham.” Manly and Rickert identify a wealthy family named Skinner in the records of Surrey, one of whom held a tenement in Farnham; a John Tylly is known to have had connections in Peckham where one John Skinner is also known; the musters for Farnham in 1569 list a Nicholas Searle. Manly and Rickert suggest that the note on f. 81 may be in the hand of William Thynne (d. 1546), who prepared editions of Chaucer’s works in 1532 and 1542. The notes on ff. 1 and 9v appear to be written by John Stow (1525?-1605) who brought out a revised version of Thynne’s edition of Chaucer in 1561; see E. P. Hammond, English Verse between Chaucer and Surrey (Duke University Press 1927) 193-94. On f. ii, “Th. Sayer me tenet 7 decembris 1617” and on f. iv verso “Th. Sayer.” Belonged to a member of the Savile family; not in A. G. Watson, The Manuscripts of Henry Savile of Banke (London 1969) as Henry Savile died in 1617. Savile sale, Sotheby’s, 6 February 1861, lot 34 to Ellis. Sold by Ellis in that year to Henry Huth (1815-78); Huth Cat. (1880) 4:1158-59; sale of Alfred H. Huth (1850-1910), Sotheby’s, pt. VI, 11 July 1917, lot 5871 to Quaritch.
Acquired by Henry E. Huntington before 1925.